Survival of the Smartest - time to invest in the critical asset
"You cannot solve a problem from the same consciousness that created it. You must learn to see the world anew."
Albert Einstein
2009 will be cataclysmically different. Immense change has already happened - government interventions on unprecedented levels, global corporations crumbling, commodity prices crashing. Your organisation has probably already reacted - reduced costs, increased efficiency, re-focused on core markets. So is that it; do we now just keep our heads down, work hard and ride out the storm? If only!
The reality is that the shock waves from the global financial crisis have barely begun. In the coming months every sector and market will see customers, suppliers and competitors fail, bringing still further change. Experience will count for little - the PCC (Pre Credit Crunch) rules of success have been torn up. The game has changed.
In such a shifting uncertain world, to survive - and prosper - you need managers, at every level, who:
- see opportunities and threats before your competitors. As the lines between industries become blurred, your managers need to have a much greater depth and field of vision
- understand the implications of changes. Any fool can observe, but smart managers analyse, interpret and evaluate
- create practical options for new approaches to business
- implement effectively by recognising the new drivers of performance (and shareholder value)
- have credibility; if employees are to commit with enthusiasm to bold steps into the unknown, they have to answer affirmatively the question: "Do the managers know what they are doing?"
- communicate persuasively with compelling reasons
- lead with vision, passion and confidence
In other words, managers who have commercial awareness, business savvy and entrepreneurial acumen.
HappyAtom has developed training programmes specifically to provide managers with the perspective, insight and skills to guide their organisations through the turbulent times ahead.
Please click to learn more about our Commercial Awareness Training. 
An article in the Harvard Business Review entitled,
"How managers' everyday decisions create - or destroy - your company's strategy"
emphasises the importance of Commercial Awareness throughout the organisation - not just at the top.
Senior managers rely on information from managers within the organisation - but if those managers are unable to see or understand what is happening around them, then they are likely to make poor decisions, whilst executives remain in the dark - unaware of the impending doom or unable to exploit opportunities.
Managing Multiple Priorities
Being commercially aware is essential, but as useful as a chocolate fireguard if things don't actually happen. Managers are faced with issues and situations that they have never encountered before and, naturally, are struggling to cope with urgent, important and conflicting priorities.
What they need is our Managing Multiple Priorities course!
Find out more about Managing Multiple Priorities training.
Customer Focus
"There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else."
Sam WaltonSince business performance, whatever the economic conditions, ultimately depends on customers, the starting point for any discussion about future plans should be customers. Our Customer Focus Training for managers places customers within a strategic and financial context and explores the practical steps to achieve a financially successful, customer-delighting culture. At the sharp-end, customer-facing staff need personal and communication skills that create the "Wow" factor.
For more information about our approach and course overviews, please visit our Customer Focus Training page.
Internal Consulting
An increasing number of managers are being asked to perform consulting roles - ranging from full-time internal consultancy through to managing short projects. In fact, most people in staff functions - HR, IT, finance etc - are consultants in all but name for much of the time.
Please click on the logo above to visit Internal Consulting - a brand new website dedicated to internal consulting - for insights, tools and course overviews.
